Choice
by Kaminari31Hiroki
Summary: Izuki is dragged to a party by his older sister and doesn't really know what to do, but just when he gets bored, a cute girl confronts him. How will he handle this? Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for the girl, who doesn't even have a name yet... You can hate her all you want, but she's an important character! And this is NOT an OC story w
1. Chapter 1

Parties are dangerous, Izuki thought as he followed his older sister into the house.

* * *

As he got home from practice, his sister was on the phone with someone. She was smiling and gave him a stare she only gave him when she had a big favor to ask of him, the stare he knew too well but was still terrified of it.  
When she hung up, she smiled from ear to ear and innocently called her brother's name as she came toward and clung onto his shoulder. Her eyelids batted at him as she asked her favor, "Shukkun~" she started, "Are you free tonight?" He sighed before monotonously answering her redundant question, "Onee-chan, you know I have homework; I won't do whatever you want me to do."

"Come on~ I'll do your homework for you, please. I need you to come with me tonight!" she pleaded.

"Are you going to do it right now?"

"Yes! We don't have to be there until later, I'll do in within half an hour, just go get ready!"

She started to push him into the bathroom, and as he stumbled from trying to resist, he gave her instructions on what to do for his homework, then was shoved into the room along with the clothes he was to wear.  
He picked up the shirt and held it in front of him, examining the article. It was not his taste, but it looked good on him anyway. He then stripped his previous shirt and put on the new one; it was a thin, long sleeved, Prussian blue shirt that was evenly striped with white or white and striped with Prussian blue, which sleeves ended just before his elbows. The pants were next, or... More like skinny jeans. Again, they fit him, but it was not something he would wear. He felt that his sister would complain about his sweaty odor, obviously he smelled like that from basketball practice, so he added more deodorant and sprayed on the newly bought cologne on the sink, which was probably bought by his sister for tonight and only tonight, he thought.

The door opened and he stepped out. "Sis, where are he going?" Izuki droned.

"Oh you look so cute! But you just need a few more touches, little brother." She pulled out a small case of hair gel from her purse, rubbed some onto her hands, and ruffled his hair. "You need to look a little more wild, little bro, but also sweet and gentle with a tad of 'Bad Boy.'" She wiped her hands on her handkerchief and pulled out the final touch: A necklace. It's thin chain was long enough to reach the bottom of his pectoral muscles, and at the end of it was a small, silver basketball charm. His sister put it around his neck, and as he held the charm in his hand and admired it and its beauty, she smiled and said with a shrug, "Can't forget who you are, right? You aren't being fake tonight. Just impress them with what you know."

"Sis," he released the charm and let it fall to his chest, "I don't know what you're talking about. Where are we going? Why am I dressed like this? Who am I impressing? Why aren't you telling me _anything_?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just excited. We're going to a party and so many people are eager to meet you!"

"Wait wait wait... How do they even know about me?"

"They've seen my phone wallpaper of our family. Everyone thinks you're so cute and they're _dying_ to meet you! Especially some girls, if you know what I mean." she nudged his arm with a wink.

"Sis, I'm not interested in looking for a girlfriend, I told you that. None of them like me anyways; They hate my puns."

"Let me give you some advice, little bro... The people who will stay with you are the ones who like you, but ones whom you'll spend a lifetime with are the ones who can put up with you. So besides us, your family, the girl who will love you unconditionally will love every part of you and your stinky basketball and cheesy pun lifestyle."

"I guess you're right... But you can't force girls on me like this!"

"You can get out into the world and try, though. If it doesn't work out and you don't like it, then you don't have to come with me next time. Just try it, please."

"I wasn't going to refuse you in the first place, since I'm already dressed, but you have to do my homework right now!"

"Yes, I know, now get it out quick! We have to leave in forty-five minutes!"

Izuki pulled out his homework and gave it to his sister. Thankfully, his math teacher finished the lesson early today and gave them time to work on it before class ended. He was good at math and finished it in a jiff. All that was left to do was English, History, and Science. His sister was great at history, so she breezed through the worksheet that was handed out. At this same time, Izuki worked on his English packet so that he would learn what he was supposed to. Ten minutes before their deadline was when they finished, so they rested their brains for those ten minutes then got up to leave.

"So who exactly are these people I'm going to meet?" Izuki asked on the train.

"Just my friends. They're mostly my age, but I think you'll all get along just fine."

"I hope you're right about that..."

Izuki walked next to his sister as she greeted the people they passed by, introducing him as her "Adorable baby brother." He said hello to them all and they tried to strike up a conversation with him but he somehow always quickly ended them with his puns. He didn't really know what else to talk about, and it didn't seem like they _wanted_ to talk about basketball, but he kept a mental note to bring it up with the next person he talked to.

He stood next to the counter with the drinks and he got a fresh glass of fruit punch in his hand. The drink was spiked, and he knew it, so he just held it. He didn't know why he got it in the first place, but it filled his motions since he was alone with no one to talk to. As he was about to put the cup down, a girl that looked about his age walked up to his side. Maybe this is my chance, Izuki thought. He lifted the cup near his head, gave her a friendly but also "Bad Boy-ish" smile and greeted her with a "How are ya?" His inner self slapped him and told him that was the worst thing he could have done and that his chances were blown, but the girl brought a fist to her mouth and chuckled, saying, "I'm fine. And you?"

His heart possibly skipped a beat at this, but he couldn't tell from the way she looked. He was too busy admiring her to pay attention to his own being.  
He was drawn to her slightly wavy, jet black hair, which reached the top of her chest, the light freckles you could only see if you were right next to her, her big brown eyes that looked directly at his own, and lastly her simple, rimless glasses.

In the back of his mind, he knew she reminded him of someone, but he ignored all immediate thought and focused solely on her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hashi no ue ni hashi wo otoshita- _I dropped my chopsticks on a_ bridge.

* * *

"I'm alright. Just having a drink." Izuki held the cup near his cheek and smiled as if to make it look like he was drinking it. The smell was overwhelming for a drink that was probably only less than thirty percent alcohol, so he subconsciously jerked his head back and placed the drink on the counter.

She chuckled. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" She picked up his cup and took a sip from it, licking the corner of her lips when she finished the rest of it. "How old are you anyways, kid?"

He tensed up. There goes his chance. How was he supposed to know she was older? Lesson learned: Never judge a person by their height. He twiddled his necklace between his index finger and thumb and cleared his throat before answering her question. "Seventeen."

"So you're only a second year in high school. So am I."

He was stunned. How many parties has she been to to be able to drink alcohol with such ease? He wanted to be like that, to fit in and talk to new people, but he was afraid of the consequences. Getting drunk is serious and could possibly kick me off the team, he thought. His hand gripped his charm. "That's amazing. I would have thought you were twenty or something since you drank the punch with such ease. Have you been to this type of party before?" He questioned.

She placed the cup back onto the counter. "Plenty more times than you have, hot shot. What school do you go to?"

"Seirin Private High School. And you?"

"I'm home schooled. I'm pretty smart, but the school didn't like how I acted so my parents pulled me out."

"And your friends?"

"They're all here."

"Oh, I see. "

She was way out of his league. He's never known this kind of life style– And hopefully never will– so he he'll never get to talk with her about anything.  
He released the charm from his grasp and let it fall to his chest, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Is that a basketball charm?" she asked, spotting the item.

"Yeah, my sister–" he momentarily turned around to check if she was still around and pointed her out to the stranger, "gave it to me since I play basketball."

The stranger's eyes sparkled. "I love basketball!"

He tried not to look extremely happy about it– he didn't want to look like an idiot– but a corner of Izuki's lips curved up at the sound of it; he couldn't help it. "Do you really?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like that."

"I guess not. We have a home game next week, if you want to come watch." If you looked closely, you could see the hint of red creeping onto his face.

"I would love to, but I wouldn't know who to cheer for. You going to tell be your name any time soon, athlete?"

"Oh." The unnatural, yet still natural, shade was now visible on his face. "Izuki Shun. And, um... Yours?" He felt like he should call her something too, but he was never good at nick-names. It was especially hard for him to think of one for _her_ since she was so simple, yet... exciting.

"Hashio Jiyuu."

He opened his mouth for a pun, but knew it would be rude. Too keep from saying it aloud, he reached in his pocket for his notebook, but it wasn't there! Oh the agony. Luckily there was a pen on the counter, so he grabbed it and wrote it on his left arm.

"What is it?" she asked. How stupid of him again– he couldn't believe he got lost in a pun!

"Oh, it's nothing. Really..." He tugged on his sleeve to lower it but the length of the fabric forbade him from doing so, so he pulled his arm close to his body. Now curious, she strongly but gently forced his arm out so she could read it.

_Hashi no ue ni hashi wo otoshita!_

Her head slowly bent low enough so her face was hidden by her straight bangs– and she scoffed.  
I knew she'd hate it, he thought.

With a lifted head and strands of hair in her face, she said with a smile, "That was a good one!"

A cute girl who liked basketball _and_ puns; how much better could she get?

"Everyone makes fun of my name, but that was the first time anyone has said something like that; it was funny!"

They spent the rest of the night chatting about various things they were both interested in– they both had a lot in common– and also exchanged each other's contact information.

When it was time to leave, he thought "I'm surprised I wasn't hit at all... I shouldn't have though." He wasn't sure why he felt that way, but it bothered him quite a bit. Something about his time spent was unfulfilled, even if it seemed like the perfect night. "I need to be hit, or at least sent away." he thought again. No no no!

She was walking with him to the door when she saw his slightly agitated face, and asked him what was wrong. Izuki quickly snapped out of his trance and replied with a smile that he was fine. "Just exhausted. That was my first party and I've never had to speak so loudly over music, just the chanting crowds." He glanced down at his necklace at the mention of basketball.

"Alright... Well don't forget to remind me about your game next week. Get plenty of rest."

"Will do." he yawned.

At home, he changed into his pajamas and gently placed his necklace on his desk. He'll have to go buy a necklace rack so he'll have some place safe to put it, but he figured that could wait; his bed was calling. He crawled into bed and lied there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the party– Jiyuu especially. He liked her, he really did, but something was missing. They got along great; really well for meeting her for the first time. He knew they both still had a lot to learn about each other, but what else was there? They got along _too_ well. Soon enough, they'll become bored of each other when there'll be nothing else to talk about. Sure, that was it. Or maybe that was just an excuse. It was definitely an excuse, he was sure of it. He knew because it wasn't the way he was.

Sleep finally overcame his thoughts and brought his eyelids to a close. He tried to imagine her face, but he couldn't get it right. All that lingered in his thoughts were her glasses. Those plain glasses that didn't bring much attention to her. At last, he finally remembered who she reminded him of. Of all the people in the world, it just had to be him.

Hyuuga Junpei.


End file.
